From the rooftops, the bright-eyed high school graduates yells, “Ontario Colleges Ontario colleges!”

It’s not surprise that Ontario college programs don’t get the same level of interest, attention, and academic respect as their university brethren. Indeed, a college education in Canada has always been viewed more of a skill training institution. And while that’s certainly true in almost every technical and non-technical respect, colleges in Ontario have become a lot more academically inclined. In fact, most colleges today offer excellent academic programs (ie. Liberal Arts, general sciences, etc.).

Ottawa Colleges

Ottawa colleges are an eclectic mix and example of diverse educational institutions. While you have your public universities, Christian university-colleges, you also have a variety of public, non-secular, and private training colleges. Ottawa is of course of particular interest to students in Ontario, across Canada, and around the world because it is the capital city of Canada and home to our federal government as well as federal government institutions. Ottawa, with a population of around 1,000,000 is second only to Toronto in the population for the province of Ontario. Unlike national statistics, there’s not getting around the fact that Ottawa is an educated school-town. Over 50% of the population have university or college education. There are more people with doctorates, engineering degrees, diplomas, and bachelor’s degrees than in any other city in Canada.

Colleges in Ottawa

Algonquin College  – focus on technology, 3-D animation, multimedia, video games
La Cité collegiale – French language – Applied arts and technology
Satin John’s Scholasticate – Roman catholic college
Herzing College/University – Private – business, healthcare, design and technology
Clean Energy Institute – Certification for solar, wind, and other green technology servicing, developing, and installing
Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa – Culinary arts
Richard Robbins Fashion Design Academy – Fashion design and couture
The Loft Academy – Hairdressing and salon school

As you can see from the list there’s specialized training and programs from green energy to a top cooking/chef school to general liberal arts education. Going to college in Ottawa, with its proximity to other major cities and institutions, and its own status as the capital of Canada with a strong urban core, is top consideration for any student.

I also haven’t mentioned that Ottawa also had the reputation of being “Silicon Valley North” attracting a lot of college and university students to technology jobs in the Ottawa area. Unfortunately, after Nortel (the ‘anchor’ company in the region) went bankrupt, the moniker is in slight decline, BUT there are still a lot of research-focused tech sector companies that are operating and thriving. Waterloo is of course another part of Ontario which is booming with tech sector jobs thanks to university and colleges in Ontario ca, but that’s another story!